Thought # 23
May 2009
Author: Bill Thurston
Happy Mother's Day.
Mother's Day ranks as the third most
popular holiday in the world, after Christmas and Easter.
Countries that celebrate a form of Mother Day include Argentina, Australia,
Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Ethiopia, Finland, France ,Hong Kong,
India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South
Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Yugoslavia, United Kingdom, United States.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a
national holiday in honor of mothers.
Celebrating motherhood is a very old tradition. The ancient Greeks celebrated
Rhea, the mother of all gods. They honored Rhea with honey cakes and fine drinks
and flowers at dawn. That sounds like the beginning of the Mother's Day
tradition of breakfast in bed! The ancient Romans also honored their mother
goddess Cybele. Celtic Pagans marked the coming of spring with a fertility
celebration linking their goddess Brigid together with the first milk of the
ewes.
There
were an estimated 82.8 million
mothers in the United States in 2004.
55%
of 15 to 44 year olds are mothers.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html
81%
of women 40 to 44 are mothers. In 1976, 90 percent of women in that age group
were mothers.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html
August
is the
month with the highest number of births.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm
Tuesday
is the
day of the week with the highest number of births.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm
Retailers report Mother's Day as the second highest gift giving day of the year behind Christmas.
Here is what we buy for moms: Mother's Day Purchases
Total
Mother’s Day spending is $14.10 billion, which is slightly more than Easter.
The majority of people (66.8%) will buy flowers for mom, spending a total of
$1.9 billion on those purchases.
Slightly more than half (54.8%) will treat mom to a special outing such as dinner or brunch, for a total of $2.7 billion.
People will also spend $2.3 billion on jewelry.
$1.5 billion on gift cards.
$1.2 billion on clothing or clothing accessories.
$1.1 million on personal services such as a day at the spa.
$857 million on electronics or computer-related accessories.
$587 million on housewares and gardening tools.
$487 million on books or CDs.
A Thought
As we continue to search for solutions to make this United States a better place, maybe we should have a better forum to listen to moms. For example, if you asked moms what should be done to help with the education of their children, I bet you would get arguably the best solutions.
Happy
Mother's Day!
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